Friday, November 20, 2009

Waterloo, Part Deux

The most irrelevant Michigan-Ohio State tilt in memory lacks the obvious juice involved -no national title or Rose Bowl bids, but can at least stir some interest based solely on the performance of Rich Rodriguez's Wolverines. No one needs to be told a representative showing (re: cover the 11.5) could at least allow the outgoing athletic director to stall for time to give Rodriguez one more season, but will his troops stand tall for their leader who drilled and worked them just too much?

Whatever the outcome, it's certain Rodriguez being outed is a matter of when, not if. It's a shame he left West Virginia, his alma mater and school he made his stamp in for the greener pastures at Ann Arbor, because it soured all the good work he did in Morgantown. He's one of the brilliant tacticians of the spread offense -along with Urban Meyer- who turned West Virginia into a solid program and the Big East into a credible conference, thanks to his victory in the 2006 Sugar Bowl. Some questioned from rumors of his hire at Michigan whether his system would fit into the school's proud tradition of running a pro-style offense, but even after flashes of brilliance from Tate Forcier and the offense, he's been unable to plug his sieve of a defense, and his list of enemies grows everyday -much like our first Waterloo participant. There's no doubt this will end ugly.

I just hope Rich can rebound somewhere -would have to be a Big East or mid-major- and run his spread in peace and perhaps Jim Harbaugh can take the reins in Ann Arbor and knock Jim Tressel off his perch as king of the small pond, er Big Ten.